UQ develops business information database for $46 billion a year tourism industry

UQ develops business information database for $46 billion a year tourism industry

University of Queensland researchers are leading a $2.1 million project to develop a major electronic database of information and resources for Australia's tourism operators.

The Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Sustainable Tourism, of which the University is a core partner, has received a $1 million AusIndustry Research and Development START grant for the project. Geographical Sciences and Planning Department senior lecturer Dr Pramod Sharma is directing the database project assisted by senior research officer Dean Carson.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Trevor Grigg is the University's representative on the CRC's board of management.

"The project will centralise business information and other resources for Australia's many and diverse tourism providers improving the efficiency and viability of an industry worth $16 billion a year in exports and estimated to contribute around $46 billion to the national economy," Professor Grigg said.

Dr Sharma said the two-year project would produce a prototype database known as the Tourism Business Information Facility, and a business plan for the tourism industry to commercialise this product.

"The warehouse will utilise the latest Internet technologies and communications with tourism operators able to access regional, national and international data repositories. It will be the leading edge of business information systems technology enhancing tourism management, policy development, investment planning, project feasibility decisions and business activities," he said.

"Despite its size and importance to the Australian economy - it is the nation's largest employer with 1.1 million people - the tourism industry has not realised the potential benefits of information technology developments such as the Internet.

"While the industry has some major players such as airlines and hotel chains who are initiators and users of sophisticated information technology-based applications, most operators are small and geographically dispersed and have generally not embraced recent developments such as the Internet."

Dr Sharma said the project's industry partners - Atlas Travel and Technologies, a Telstra company, and Ernst & Young - would play key roles in the project. Atlas would help build the prototype data warehouse while Ernst & Young would provide expertise on identifying industry information needs and in developing a business plan for the commercialisation of the prototype, he said.

For more information, contact Dr Pramod Sharma (telephone 07 3365 6513 or email P.sharma@mailbox.uq.edu.au).